Samy (left) with his trusted lieutenant, MIC vice-president Datuk Dr S.Subramaniam. - Picture by Jack Ooi
KUALA LUMPUR, July 7 — Will the MIC's 64th annual general assembly over the weekend become the final curtain for MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu?
The Barisan Nasional (BN) certainly hopes so but MIC insiders say it might not be.
Under attack from all sides, the 75-year-old Samy Vellu is clinging on to a presidency or rather the empire he built around the post for over 30 years.
“It is not just a post. It is the centre and core of his kingdom,” said a MIC CWC member on condition of anonymity.
“He is afraid to give up his nest. He is worried that all the enemies he had gathered over the past three decades would fall on him,” the leader said.
As usual the Indian party's general assembly will start with a grand dinner on Friday night followed by Samy Vellu’s address to the 3,000 delegates next morning.
The address will be keenly watched for an announcement of his retirement.
Not only delegates but BN leaders want an announcement of a firm date of departure, a commitment to hand over to a successor and leave.
Samy Vellu has only said he will leave “around” September next year but he can change his mind as easily as changing his shirt, said one MIC division leader.
In a departure from the norm, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is hoping Samy Vellu steps down in July so that the party’s transformation can start, will declare the assembly open in the afternoon on Saturday.
It is not going to be a happy event for Najib, hobnobbing with Samy Vellu on the stage, considering the strained circumstances.
With the GAS movement pressuring him to leave now and party branch and division leaders giving him the thumbs down by boycotting his functions and the government giving him the cold shoulder at every turn, Samy Vellu is holed up with a coterie of sycophants propping him up, MIC insiders said.
They are eyeing posts and positions in the next party and general elections.
Chaos at the anti-Samy gathering last weeked when the president's supporters stormed the Klang event.
While Samy Vellu’s say in choosing the candidates for the 13th general election is getting weaker by the day, he still has the clout to decide the winners in party elections.
In another major blow for Samy Vellu, his former confidant S. Vigneswaran, the former MIC Youth chief, has filed suit against the party president on behalf of the Maju Institute of Education Development (MIED), the party's education arm, for alleged misappropriation.
The derivative action, a first in Malaysia, is by Vigneswaran, a MIED member, against its chairman and MIED trustees to protect the interest of MIED.
The sum includes special and general damages.
Among the defendants are Tan Sri M. Mahalingam, Datuk Dr T. Marimuthu, Tan Sri K.S. Nijhar, Tan Sri Dr K. Ampikaipakan, Tan Sri K. Kumaran, Datuk G. Palanivel and Tan Sri G. Vadiveloo.
Last month the High Court granted leave to Vigneswaran to initiate a suit against MIED trustees.
Last week Samy Vellu announced, when opening the Youth and Wanita wings' AGMs, that he was invincible and that nobody could destroy him.
“They will be destroyed first before they can destroy the MIC or me,” he had said.
Despite the brave talk, Samy Vellu is more vulnerable now than ever in his political career.
One of the questions supporters of the GAS always ask is why the government does not “move” against him.
The question is widely asked in the Indian community and with increasing exasperation.
His problem now is to ensure that his son Vell Paari succeeds him to protect his legacy. Samy Vellu had all the time in the world to promote his son and solidify his position but he thought the sun would never set on his empire.
“He needs time to at least put his son as vice-president,” said a party insider adding Vell Paari is only an appointed CWC member.
Samy Vellu will only leave next year once Vell Paari’s position is confirmed in the party, the source said. “Samy hopes to stay until at least up to September 2011.
”
No comments:
Post a Comment